How to Save Money as a Restaurant Owner During a Pandemic: 51 Unique Money-Saving Hacks

When asking restaurant owners about the ways they save money, we were surprised.  We got some juicy nuggets that every restaurant owner should know and we’re going to spill the beans below.  In this article, we share the secrets to How to Save Money as a Restaurant Owner – enjoy!.

1. Ditch traditional advertising.  There are more effective ways to advertise these days which will save you money big time while getting you better results.
2. Use Appliances that are more energy efficient. Some appliances are very resource heavy and this will help most restaurant owners save money.
3. Minimize food spoilage.  Food spoilage and waste are some of the top contributors to wasted money in the restaurant industry.  Keep those expiration dates visible and check them daily!
4. Use glass instead of plastic. This will definitely help you save.
5. Acknowledge your power bill.  What is your average power bill?  Could it be lowered?  Probably.  Try unplugging unnecessary appliances when you’re not using them.
6. Wash dishes properly.  Soak them.  It will help you use a minimal amount of water.
7. Order 2-Liters wherever you can find them the cheapest. Pepsi and other suppliers charge more for them than what you’d pay at some grocery stores or dollar stores.
8. Open the windows when it’s nice out.  Turn off the AC and let that breeze in.  Just keep your customers in mind – if it gets too hot/cold, you may need to close up and crank up the ac/heat again.
9. Pay Attention to Portion Control.  We can’t stress food waste enough.  What measures will you take to regulate portion sizes?
10. Cut down your menu.  Having minimal ingredients will help you avoid over-spending on those less-popular ingredients you don’t use often.
11. Take inventory often. Most restaurant owners tend to order more than they need which causes more waste.  Or, they don’t order enough which costs the by not having the right ingredients to fulfill customers’ orders. Take inventory weekly if you can!
12. Streamline your deliveries.  See if you can order everything you need from one company. Delivery fees from suppliers can really add up so it’s best to streamline it as much as possible.
13. Raise prices – it will increase your margins which is kinda like saving money!
14. Get a good scheduling manager.  Over-scheduling should never happen.  Don’t be afraid to cut people when you need to.  There’s no better way to handle this than hiring a great scheduling manager.
15. Let your staff know you want to save money. Letting them know will help them keep that frugal mentality in the back of their minds. just make sure they don’t sacrifice quality or customer service for frugality.  Consider asking your employees what ways they think you could save money day-to-day. They’ll appreciate you asking for their feedback which will also boost morale.
16. Lower how much inventory you have.  For some of you, ordering too much is a big problem. Try ordering less and cleaning up your process so you can have better control over how much inventory you have.
17. Don’t overspend!  When buying equipment, buy used if possible. You can save hundreds when you spend time checking into used equipment.
18. Stay attentive to your budget.  It surprises us how many restaurant owners don’t have a solid budget.  Find out how much you spend and how much you average in revenue.  Get this down to a science and you’ll find yourself saving a lot of money.
19. Weigh your food as it’s made.  This will help you keep consistency and allow you to plan your ordering better.
20. Push menu items with the highest profit margin. This will help you lower your cost and raise profits.
21. Train your servers to up-sell & cross-sell.  Add-ons can make a huge impact.  Imagine where you’d be if you made $5-$10 extra on every ticket all because your staff asked something like “do you want fries with that?”.
22. Use a Metal Detector for silverware.  If you’ve been in the restaurant industry for any length of time, you know that silverware disappears, getting wrapped up in napkins and tossed in the trash without you knowing. Using a metal detector before taking out the trash will save you lots of money.  Even if it’s not a fun job to fish it out, the savings will be worth it.
23. Make your chefs use a recipe book.  Guessing or trying to remember what goes in a dish can be costly as your chefs may use something that is more expensive and cause an imbalance in ordering.  Always keep the recipe book out and opened!
24. Bargain with vendors. Pricing for anything is never set in stone. There is always room for negotiation whether it be monetary or something you can add on to lower the cost.
25. Build an Email, Facebook Messenger, or Text Messaging Subscriber List.  The more of your customers you have on your own list, the cheaper advertising will be.  Social media ads can be expensive if you don’t know what you’re doing while sending out messages to your customers will be much cheaper saving you money in the long-term.
26. Set up a Loyalty Program.  If you can encourage guests to come back for more (ultimately increasing their lifetime value), you’ll be in good shape. An effective loyalty program will help.
27. Get a plus account with WebstaurantStore.com. You’ll get additional savings.
28. Join the National Federation of Independent Business (also known as “NFIB”) and use their discount to set up towel services with Unifirst.
29. Ask your food suppliers to email you weekly pricing updates.  Prices change from time-to-time and you won’t know until you ask.
30. If you run a seasonal restaurant, close in the offseason. Staying open will cost you a whole lot of money!
31. When trimming salmon, use the belly meat for other dishes like salmon bowls, omelets, breakfast bowls, salad, or croquettes.
32. Contact your local grocery store like Aldi and work out deals with them. Sometimes they have to throw out certain food due to the appearance (like bruised bananas). This could get you a deep discount and save you some cash.
33. Contact colleges nearby and find culinary students that want to get their feet wet. They may be free to use!
34. If you have a US Foods account, find their Chef Store.  It can be much cheaper than having food delivered to you.
35. Wash your own aprons/smocks. Or negotiate with your laundry service provider for a better price.
36. Make your own equipment repairs if you’re handy.  Service fees can be very costly.
37. Ask your reps for a sheet of firesales.  You never know what they’re getting rid of!
38. If you hear about another restaurant nearby closing, contact them to see if there is any food or equipment they are getting rid of for cheap.
39. Use a spatula to get every drop of ranch, condiments, and other dressings into your portion cups.
40. Try using simple cleaning chemicals from local stores. They may be much cheaper than through your distribution company.
41. Shop at Sam’s Club if you have the time to visit there!  Some items will be cheaper there than from your suppliers. Find restaurant supplies from Sam’s Club here.
42. Avoid renting equipment and buy it when you can. You’ll save money in the long run.
43. Schedule your staff members based on your production. Scheduling based on your employee’s wants will cost you big time.
44. Blow out your refrigerator and freezer coils and filters & clean them every 2 months. This will save you on a costly repair bill.
45. Schedule your prep employees to come in at different times so none of them are lollygagging or socializing too much.
46. Offer a cash discount on menu items. One restaurant owner adds 4% to the prices if customers use credit cards. They saved $30,000 per location in one year.
47. Train and retain your staff.  Hiring and training often take a lot of time and money. And if they don’t make it the first few weeks, you’re back to the drawing board.
48. Compare companies when it comes to gas and electricity. Prices on these can vary dramatically. One restaurant owner saved $400 per month on electricity just by switching companies.
49. Make it so every major ingredient you have gets cross utilized in 3 menu items or more. If not, consider getting rid of it or making it work.
50. Cross-train your staff members. The cost of having an employee call out “sick” and not having a replacement can be crucial.  Let all of your employees have a good understanding of different jobs so they can be flexible when you’re in need of some extra help.
51. Get rid of non-profitable food and beverage items.  Make sure your profit margins are in order, otherwise you’ll be running on a hamster wheel and struggling to stay open.

As you can tell, some of these ways tips on how to save money as a restaurant owner are very unique and creative.  Some may work for you, others maybe not so much.  Either way, we hope you’ve found these restaurant money-saving hacks valuable!  Click here to find more helpful restaurant marketing tips.